French Naval Aviation

French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval patrol air force, the Aéronavale was created in 1912. The force is under the command of a flag officer officially titled Admiral of Naval Aviation (ALAVIA) with his headquarters at Toulon naval base. It has a strength of around 6,800 military and civilian personnel. It operates from four airbases in Metropolitan France and several detachments in foreign countries or French overseas territories. Carrier-borne pilots of the French Navy do their initial training at Salon-de-Provence Air Base after which they undergo their carrier qualification with the US Navy.

Structure

Immediately after the end of World War II, the Aeronavale only had Supermarine Seafire Mk.III (Flottille 1F) and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers (Flotilles 3F et 4F).

Components The flight personnel of the French Navy falls into three categories: fighter aviation, fixed-wing aviation and helicopter aviation.

Operationally the French Naval Aviation has four components: Embarked Air Group (Le Groupe aérien embarqué) of the aircraft carrier : Rafale M, E-2C Hawkeye Naval Patrol and Maritime Surveillance Aviation (l'Aviation de patrouille et de surveillance maritime): Atlantique 2, Falcon 50, Falcon 200 Shipborne and Shore-based Helicopters (Les hélicoptères embarqués et basés à terre): Dauphin, Panther, Caïman Marine Support Aviation (l'Aviation de soutien): Falcon 10, EMB-121 Xingu, SR20, Cap-10, Dauphin, EC120 Colibri

Units Operational squadrons are known as Flottilles and normally consist of 12 aircraft : 1F to 10F are carrier based anti-submarine squadrons 11F to 20F are fighter and attack squadrons 21F to 30F are maritime patrol squadrons 31F to 39F are helicopter squadrons Shore-based training and transport squadrons are known as Escadrilles de Servitude : 1S to 19S are communications squadrons 20S to 29S are helicopters squadrons 50S to 59S are training squadrons Squadron Insignia Type Aircraft Base Role Notes Embarked Air Group (Le Groupe aérien embarqué) 4F Fixed wing E-2C Hawkeye Lann Bihoué Carrier airborne early warning 11F Fixed wingRafale M Landivisiau Strike fighter 12F Fixed wingRafale M Landivisiau Strike fighter 17F Fixed wingRafale M Landivisiau Strike fighter Ended RotaryEurocopter AS365 DauphinHyèresPlane guardNot part of the GAE. set sail on cruises with two Dauphin helicopters from 35F. Naval Patrol and Maritime Surveillance Aviation (l'Aviation de patrouille et de surveillance maritime) 21F Fixed wing Atlantique 2 Lann Bihoué Anti-submarine warfare / Naval patrol Detachments at Dakar and Djibouti. 23F Fixed wing Atlantique 2 Lann Bihoué Anti-submarine warfare / Naval patrol 24F Fixed wing Falcon 50 M Lann Bihoué Maritime surveillance / Search and rescue 25F Fixed wing Falcon 200 Guardian GAM Faa'a Maritime surveillance / Search and rescue Detachment at Nouméa. Shipborne and Shore-based Helicopters (Les hélicoptères embarqués et basés à terre) 31F Rotary NH90 Caïman Hyères Search and rescue 32F Rotary Airbus Helicopters H160M Guépard Lanvéoc Previously used SA321G Super Frelon. 33F Rotary NH90 Caïman Lanvéoc Anti-submarine warfare / Search and rescue 34F Rotary Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin/NH90 Caïman Lanvéoc Anti-submarine warfare Disbanded 4 September 2020. Planned to re-activate in 2021 operating leased SA365M3 Dauphins from Heli-Union and NHV as temporary equipment. To convert to NH90 Caïman. 35F Rotary Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin SPI Hyères Search and rescue Detachments at La Rochelle, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage and Faa'a. Uses additional leased AS365N3 from Heli-Union. 36F Rotary Eurocopter AS565 Panther Hyères Small ship flights Support Aviation (l'Aviation de soutien) 10S Rotary/ Fixed wing/UAV Schiebel S-100 Serval Hyères Experimental Aviation and airborne weapons research and development, evaluation at several locations. 22S Rotary Dauphin, EC120 Colibri Lanvéoc Rotary operational training / Liaison 28FFixed wingEmbraer XinguLann BihouéNaval patrol and maritime surveillance operational training / Utility / Liaison 50S Fixed wing SR20 and CAP-10 Lanvéoc Elementary flying training 57S Fixed wing Falcon 10 M Landivisiau Combat aviation operational training

Aircraft inventory

Fixed wing aircraft

Aircraft Origin Role Variant In service Notes Combat aircraft Dassault Rafale France Swingrole fighter Rafale MF3-R / F4 42 Transport aircraft Dassault Falcon 10 France Liaison aircraft Falcon 10MER 6 Being partially replaced by the Pilatus PC-24. Embraer EMB 121 Xingu Brazil Liaison aircraft – 10 Special role aircraft Grumman E-2 Hawkeye United States AEW&C E-2C Hawkeye 2000 3 Entered service in 1998. E-2D 0(+3 on order) Planned to enter service at the end of 2027. Bréguet Atlantique 2France ASW, MPA Standard 5 4 Out of 22 Atlantique 2 in service, 18 were modernised to the Standard 6.To be replaced by the Airbus A321 XLR MPA, which is in development since February 2025. Standard 6 18 Dassault Falcon 20 France MSA Falcon 200 Gardian 5 To be replaced by the Falcon 2000LXS Albatros. Dassault Falcon 50 France MSA Falcon 50M Triton 8 To be replaced by the Falcon 2000LXS Albatros. Dassault Falcon 2000 France MSA and intervention Falcon 2000LXS Albatros 2(+10 on order) Successor of the Falcon 200 Gardian and the 50M Triton.7 ordered in December 2020, 5 ordered in October 2025.2 delivered in September 2026. Trainer aircraft Pilatus PC-24 Switzerland Multi-engine trainer /Liaison – 2(+1 on order) Successor of part of the Dassault Falcon 10MER.3 aircraft PC-24 rented for the mission.2 first aircraft delivered in March and August 2026. Mudry CAP 10 France Basic trainer /aerobatics CAP 10 5 CAP 10C 2 British Aerospace Jetstream 41 United Kingdom Military crew training – 1 Aircraft provided by AVDEF, a French company. Used for maritime patrol and surveillance rear crew training.

Rotorcraft

Aircraft Origin Role Variant In service Notes Helicopters NHIndustries NH90 France /Germany /Italy /Netherlands ASW / ASuWSAR NH90NFH Caïman Marine 27 Eurocopter AS565 Panther France Surveillance / intervention /utility AS565SA Panther 16 Helicopters of the Flotilla 36F are embarked on frigates. Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin France SAR SA365 N SPI(Secours Protection Intervention) 6 Operated by the Flotilla 35F. SAR SA365 F Pedro 3 Operated by the Flotilla 35F from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier as a rescue helicopter. SAR Dauphin N3+ FI(flotte intérimaire) 2 Operated in French Polynedsia by the Flotilla 35F. Airbus Helicopters H160 France SAR – 6 Interim fleet of the French Navy, rented to Babcock. France ASW / ASuWSAR / Utility – 0(+49 on order) 169 H160M ordered by the French Armed Forces, among which, 49 for the French Navy.

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Aircraft Origin Role Variant In service Notes UAVs Schiebel Camcopter S-100 Austria ISR UAS helicopter S-100F 3(+5 on order) Entered service in 2012. 5 more systems ordered in 2026.Note: 1 system is equipped with two drones, so there are 6 drones in service, 10 on order. Airbus Helicopters VSR700 France ISR UAS helicopter /transport – 0(+6 on order) 6 ordered in January 2026.Based on the Cabri G2 helicopter.

Retired aircraft This is a list of retired aircraft that have flown with French Naval Aviation. Amiot AAC.1 (Junkers Ju 52) Avro Anson Avro Lancaster Mk.VII Beechcraft SNB-5/JRB-4 Blanchard Brd.1 HB3 Blériot-SPAD S.42 Bloch MB.151 C1 Borel-Odier T BO-2 Breguet BRE.14B2/A2 Breguet BRE.19 B2

Bréguet 521 Bizerte Bréguet 1050 Alizé Bréguet 1150 Atlantic CAMS 30E CAMS.37A/37²/37.11/Lia CAMS 46 Et2 CAMS 55.1/55.2/55.6/55.10 Caudron Cau 59 ET2 Caudron C635 Simoun Caudron C.445 Goéland

Canadian Car & Foundry Harvard II Chance Vought F4U-7/AU-1 Corsair Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer Coutant RMC Type 17 Curtiss SB2C4/SB2C5 Helldiver Dassault Étendard IVM/P Dassault MD 312 Flamant Dassault Super Étendard De Havilland 100 Vampire Mk.V Dewoitine 7 C1 Dewoitine D.373/D.376 Dewoitine D.510 Dewoitine D.520 Donnet-Denhaut 140/150 hp Donnet-Denhaut 160 hp Donnet-Denhaut 200 HP HS Triplace/RR/BB Donnet-Denhaut 275hp Donnet-Denhaut bimoteur Dornier Do 24T Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless Douglas C-47D Dakota Farman Lévy HB2 450 hp Farman F60 Torp Goliath/F65 Farman F.165/F.166/F.168 Torp Farman F.223.4 FBA Type C FBA Type H FBA Type S FBA type 14 HE2 FBA.17HL1/HL2/HMT2/HE2 FBA.19HMB2 Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr Georges Lévy 280 HB.2 Gourdou Leseurre ET1 Type 22 Gourdou Leseurre LGL.32 Gourdou Leseurre GL.810/811/812/813 HY Gourdou Leseurre GL.832 HY Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat Grumman TBM-3S/E/W/UT Avenger Grumman JRF-5 Goose Hanriot HD.2 C.1 Hanriot HD.3 C.2 Hanriot HD.14 E.2 Hanriot HD.17 E.2 Hanriot H.41 Junkers Ju 188 Latécoère 290 Latécoère 298 Latham 43 HB.3 Levasseur PL.4 R3b Levasseur PL.5 C2b Levasseur PL.7 T2B2b Levasseur PL.10 R3b/PL.101 R3b Levasseur PL.14 Tb2B2 Levasseur PL.15 T2B2 Lévy Besson 200 hp Lioré et Olivier LeO.7.3 Lioré et Olivier LeO.20 Bn3 Lioré et Olivier H.13/H.136 Lioré et Olivier H.43 Lioré et Olivier H.193 Lioré et Olivier H.257 Bis/H258 Lockheed P2V-1 Ventura Lockheed P2V-6/7 Neptune

Loire 130 C.l Loire 210 LTV/Vought F-8E(FN) Crusader Martin 167-A3 Martin P5M-2 Marlin Maurice Farman Type 1910 Morane Saulnier MoS.130 Et2 Morane Saulnier MoS.149 Ep2 Morane Saulnier MS.225 C1 Morane Saulnier MS.230 Et2 Morane Saulnier MS.406 C1 Morane Saulnier MS.500/MS.502 Criquet Morane Saulnier MS.733 Alcyon

Morane Saulnier MS760 Paris Nieuport IV.H Nieuport VI.H Nieuport 12 Nieuport N.21/N.23 Nieuport NiD.62 C1/NiD.622 C1 Nord 262 Frégate North American NAA.57 P2 North American SNJ-3/4/5 Piper PA-31 Navajo Potez 25 A2/TOE Potez 452 Potez 567 Potez 631 C3 Salmson Sal.2 A2 SCAN 20 Short Sunderland Mk.III/V SNCAC/Farman NC.470 SNCAC NC.701/NC.702 Martinet SNCAN N.1001/N.1002 Pingouin SNCAN N.1101 Noralpha SNCAN N.1402 Noroit SNCAN SV.4C Stampe SNCAO/Loire-Nieuport LN.401/LN.411 SNCASE R.82 Romano SNCASE Leo.451 SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc/Bloch MB.160 SNCASE Aquilon SNCASO/Bloch MB.175 SNCASO SO.94/95 Corse SNCASO SO.30P Bretagne SOCATA MS.880 Rallye Sopwith Sop.1 A2 Sopwith Baby/130hp Clerget Sopwith Triplan C.1 SPAD S.VII C.1

SPAD S.XIII C.1 SPAD XIV Canon Stinson 105 Supermarine Seafire Mk.III/IX/XV Supermarine Sea Otter Supermarine Walrus Tampier T.4 Taylorcraft L-2 Tellier Canon 200 hp Tellier 200 hp Tellier 350Hp Tellier BM 400 hp

Villiers Vil.2AM C.2 Vickers Wellington Voisin L Voisin Canard Voisin III Voisin VIII Vought V.156-F Wibault Wib.74 C.1

Helicopters and autogyros

Aérospatiale Alouette II Aérospatiale Super Frelon Bell 47 LeO C-30 Lynx Mk.4(FN) Piasecki H-21C Piasecki HUP-2 Sikorsky H-51 Sikorsky S-55 Sikorsky S-58 Sud-Aviation HSS-1

French Naval Aviation

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